The Unlikely Knight
by KeepCalm I HaveMagic
Summary: Just a one-shot that came to me in the middle of the night while trying to sleep. Set during the middle of Season One. Merlin is attacked by one of Uther's knights. There are many people watching, but none make a move to rescue him. Except for one unikely man: another knight.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin walked through the Lower Town, taking in the sights, sound, and sun. Despite the heatwave that has brought most of Camelot's people to their knees, Merlin was unaffected by it. He was used to heatwaves such as this one, because they were common in Ealdor.

Usually during this time of the day, the secret warlock would in the armoury polishing Prince Prat's armour. But for some unexplainable reason Arthur had given him the day off. Merlin didn't bother to question why, he just took it as a oppurtunity to learn the streets Camelot better.

Merlin stopped in front of a produce stand and picked up an apple. After making it wasn't bruised, the manservant gave the man running the stand a silver coin and began to walk away.

He didn't get very far before bumping into a knight. The knight turned and looked down at him. Merlin knew right away that he was dealing with one Uther's men, not his master's.

"I'm sorry," Merlin quickly apologized. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"You think that just because you're the prince's manservant you can get away with whatever you want," the knight sneered.

"I truly am sorry," Merlin said as he tried to look a quick escape.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be," the knight threatened as he balled his hands into fists.

Merlin stood still and swallowed thickly as the apple fell from his hand. He was by all means scared. The other servants had warned him not to do anything to get on a knight's bad side. Especially o of Uther's men, but despite the warnings he still managed to mess up.

As the warlock felt the bigger man's fist connect with his jaw he fell backwards on to the hard cobblestone ground.

Merlin made a move to get up, taking it as a chance to flee, but the brutal man quickly pinned him to the ground and began punching Merlin in the chest, and face, while his knee was wedged into his shoulder. All the while, those brave enough to be outside in the heat, just stood by and watched. Not one person made a move to help him.

Merlin begged for help and pleaded for the man to stop. He wanted to use his magic so badly, but he could not risk revealing himself to the knight or anyone else.

After what seemed like forever, Merlin felt the knight being pulled off him. He went breathe a sigh of relief that the beating had stopped, but all that came out was strangled gasp followed by a pained groan. Despite Gaius' claims about the warlock being a horrible physician, Merlin knew in that second that the knight had broken a few of his ribs. Now all he wanted to do was curl up in ball and die, but he knew that it wouldn't happen.

Merlin slowly moved to get up, only to end up sitting, unsteadily, on his knees. He looked at the knight who had been beating him. He was being lead away by a few guards while another knight watch with a disapproving look.

Once the brutal knight was gone, the other knight walked over to Merlin and knelt down in front of him. Instinctively, Merlin flinched away, for fear of another beating.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the knight said as he slowly placed his hand on Merlin's shoulder.

The warlock hissed in pain at the sudden touch. The nice knight quickly moved his hand away and studied Merlin's pained expression.

"We need to get you to the Court Physician," the knight stated. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," Merlin replied with quiet voice.

The knight helped Merlin to his feet and walked him back towards the castle.

"What's your name?" the knight asked.

"Merlin," the manservant answered quietly.

"You're Prince Arthur's personal sevrant, correct?" the knight questioned.

Merlin only nodded.

"I'm Sir Leon," the knight stated naming himself. "I'm one of his new knights."

Merlin said nothing. He was in too much pain and he wanted to passed out where he was, but he was determined to get back to Gaius' on his own two feet even if it was with the help of a newly knighted man.

* * *

When Merlin and Sir Leon entered the physician's chamber, Gaius was not there.

"Where is he?" Sir Leon asked.

"Probably in the throne room with the king and Arthur," Merlin guessed as he pulled himself away from nobleman and sat down at the table where he and Gaius had supper.

Sir Leon watched Merlin with great interest. The young man looked and acted as if he sat at the table many times. Then it dawned on him. Not only was the injured man the prince's servant, but he also lived with the physician.

The nobleman looked around the chambers for a brief moment, before he laid eyes on the room just above the small set of stairs. Even though the door wasn't open all the way, he could see that it was the room Merlin slept in.

"Instead of having you sit at the table, let's get you to your bed," Sir Leon suggested.

Merlin muttered his agreement as he allowed the knight to assist him to his room.

* * *

Sir Leon stood the main room of the physician's chambers, awaiting the man's return. He was not going to leave Merlin by himself.

It wasn't long before Gaius walked in and asked. "What are you doing in here Sir-?" the elder man paused to get his name.

"Leon," the nobleman replied. "I here because Merlin was brutally attacked by one of Uther's knights. I assisted in getting back here."

"Where is Merlin now?" Gaius asked.

"In his room. He is currently unconscious," Sir Leon answered.

The wizened old man moved towards the upper room, faster that what should have been impossible at his age. The knight figured that the young man most mean an awful lot to the physician for him to move so quickly.

* * *

A few days later Merlin woke with splitting headache and his entire chest bursting with pain. Making the smart decision to remain lying down, he looked around what parts of the room he could see. His eyes landed on familiar figure sitting at the small table under the window.

"Afternoon," the familiar face said with smile.

It took Merlin a minute to place the man's face, but when he went to talk, no sound came out. He realized that his mouth and throat were dry. That meant he'd been unconscious for at least two or three days. Merlin then noticed the cup that was on the nightstand next to his bed. The warlock began to try to sit up, but failed when his entire torso flared in pain.

It was obvious that the man took notice of this and got up to help. Slowly, he helped Merlin sit up, then handed him the cup of water.

Merlin firmly gripped the cup and drank as much of the water he could before having to tilt his head back, which was something he didn't want to do. He handed the cup back to the knight before speaking. "You're the knight that saved me. Sir Leon, correct?"

Sir Leon nodded. "That knight was acting unjust. He was hurting you when you had done nothing wrong."

Merlin looked down at his blanket and whispered. "I apologized."

"You didn't do anything though," Sir Leon insisted.

"I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into him. I apologized twice, but he wouldn't let it go," Merlin explained.

"You didn't deserve to be beat up though. Accidents happen. Knights don't seem to get that concept. They think everything that is an accident is done on purpose," Sir Leon said.

Merlin looked up at the man to see if there was truth in his words. Sure enough there was. Despite how much it hurt, Merlin smiled at the knight.

"I won't keep you up for much longer. Gaius say that you need to get a lot of rest," Sir Leon stated, before helping the younger man lay back down.

* * *

Years later when Leon came to apologize for how he treated Merlin while under the Lamia's influenced. The secret warlock was more than forgiving. The younger man told him that his actions were far less terrifying and brutal than that of certain knight they shared an equal hatred for.

If anyone had told them they'd become close friends the day before they met, neither would have belived it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: After much debate with myself, I have decided to write a second chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much I have enjoyed writing it.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Merlin had been beaten by Uther's knight. By now all of Camelot and a few of the outlying villages have heard what happened. Merlin, himself, was forced to the confines the chambers he shared with Gaius until the trial could be held.

Uther had wanted the trial to over and done with as soon as Merlin had woken up a few days after the beating. Gaius convinced the king to wait until Merlin had a chance to heal from his injuries more.

Now the time for waiting was up. The trial was set to be held the following morning. Both Merlin and the knight faced chance of punishment. Merlin, if found guilty, was to face punishment for not watching where he was stepping. Or as the knight put it, "Purposefully running into me with the intent of bring me harm."

If the knight was found guilty, something that was very unlikely to happen, was to be stripped of his knighthood and banished from Camelot.

Merlin knew the odds were against him. He was just a servant after all. The king would believe the knight and that would be the end of it. It wouldn't matter what the witnesses would say, even if one of them was a knight.

Merlin was currently laying in his bed looking up at the ceiling wondering what his punishment might be, when Gaius walked in.

"You can't think negative," Gaius stated as if reading the young warlock's mind.

The warlock lifted his head up enough to look at his mentor, the laid it back down again. "Uther is not a man of reason. He'd sooner accuse an innocent child of sorcery than to hear the truth."

"Uther will listen to what you have to say. Arthur and Morgana have made sure of that," Gaius said as walked over to the bed and sat down. "Sit up."

Merlin did as he was told, and slowly sat up as he placed his good hand on his injured shoulder and bit his lip. The physician opened his medicine bag and picked up a poultice.

"Just because he will listen doesn't mean he will believe me," Merlin pointed out as he removed his injured arm from the sling it was in with practiced ease.

Since Merlin could barely lift his right arm past his chest, he was not wearing a shirt. Gaius began to unwrap the bandaging around his apprentice's shoulder while dabbing it with the poultice. "Just remember. You were not in the wrong. You apologized twice but the knight would not listen."

"He'll just deny it," Merlin muttered bitterly.

"Stop being so negative," Gaius chided.

"What if I am found guilty?" Merlin asked. It was a fair question. "What will my punishment be?"

Gaius stopped what he was doing and looked into the boy's eyes. "Best case scenario? You will no longer be Arthur's manservant and sent back to Ealdor."

"Worst case scenario?" the warlock questioned.

"Flogged then sent back to Ealdor while the marks are still fresh," Gaius answered unwillingly.

For a few seconds Merlin's face was masked with fear. The fear quickly disappeared as he sighed. "Either way I go home and am never to return Camelot."

Gaius stared at the boy with sad eyes, then went back to tending his shoulder. When he was finished, he re-wrapped the shoulder and packed up his medicine bag.

"Get some rest Merlin," the elderly man said as he got up to leave.

Merlin laid back down, but did not close his eyes for hours.

* * *

The next morning Gaius helped Merlin put on a shirt and get ready for the trial. By the time the two were finished, Arthur was walking into the shared chambers. With the prince were two guards and Sir Leon.

The guards were to lead Merlin to the throne room as Arthur, Leon and Gaius walked behind them.

"Nervous," Arthur asked as he looked Merlin up and down.

"No," Merlin lied trying to put on a brave face.

"Good," Arthur said. "But if things don't go according to plan, just know that your job as my manservant is safe."

"How can you promise me something like that?" Merlin asked.

"Because I am the prince," Arthur answered.

Merlin didn't dare smile at that. Arthur might be the prince, but he couldn't assure that his job was safe. The king had the higher power.

* * *

As Merlin walked toward the king and the knight who beat him, he could feel everyone's eyes on him. He could hear some of them muttering about him. He could sense that a few of them were pointing at the fading bruises on his face and his slinged arm.

Merlin stopped walking when he was five feet from the king. He forcibly pushed down to where he was sitting on his knees. The young warlock bit his tongue to keep from making any noise. He could not appear weak in front of the court.

He glanced to his left and saw that the knight, who had been identified as Sir Rowland, was standing and in shackles. Merlin looked past the king and saw that Arthur and Gaius had taken their rightful places behind him. He knew that Sir Leon was standing with the witnesses in the back of the throne room.

"Stand him up," Uther ordered the guard standing right behind the secret warlock. The guard obeyed and pulled Merlin to his feet by grabbing his injured shoulder.

Merlin didn't have time to bite back his sudden gasp of pain as it jolted throughout his entire right side. Neither did he have time to wonder why Uther was allowing him to stand, when it was not allowed. The tria had begun.

"Tell me your story, servant," the king demanded as he stared at Merlin with cold eyes.

Merlin quickly tuned the pain out and spoke of what happened in his point of view. As he spoke the court was silent, each member coming to their own conclusions.

When he was finished. Uther turned and faced Sir Rowland. "Is what he says the truth?"

"No, Sire. The boy lies," Rowland answered. "He intentionally ran into me and didn't bother apologizing. I only reacted by punishing him."

"Were you not aware that this young man _was_ the Prince's manservant?" Uther asked.

Merlin did not like the way Uther said 'was'.

"No, Sire. I did not know that he was the Prince's manservant," Rowland replied.

Uther stood up and looked in the direction of the witnesses. "Sir Leon, come forward."

Leon pushed through the crowd of witnesses and walked up the throne room. He stopped right in between Merlin and Sir Rowland.

"Tell us what you saw," Uther demanded.

"I saw Merlin, bump into Rowland and apologize," Leon answered. "Rowland said and I quote, 'You think that just because you're the prince's manservant you can get away with what ever you want?'. After Merlin apologized again, Rowland punched him, to where he fell down, and started beating him. I intervened and pulled Rowland off of Merlin. I then lead Merlin back to Gaius' chambers."

Uther was silent for moment as he compared all three stories. The king then looked back at all the witnesses and spoke. "How many of you can confirm what Sir Leon is saying to be true."

Merlin didn't dare look back to see how many raised their hands, but the shared expression between Arthur and Gaius was enough for him to know that a lot of hands went up.

"Eight of the ten witnesses confirm Sir Leon's story," Uther announced "Before judgement is passed do either guilty parties have something say."

Merlin didn't move or breath. He didn't want to jinx anything. Rowland stayed silent as well.

"So be it," Uther stated as he looked straight at his son's manservant. "Merlin, you are free from any punishment. You may go and return to your duties as Arthur's manservant."

Merlin let out the breath he had been holding and bowed the best he could. "Thank you, Sire."

As Merlin was led out of the throne room, he heard Uther denounce Rowland from his knighthood and be forced into exile.


End file.
